(3) In deciding upon the relation between total receipts and total expenditures the President and the Congress should follow a standard, i. e., that the consolidated cash budget should show a moderate surplus at an agreed high-employment level of national income.13

2. Enforcement of section 139 of the act: This section directed the two appropriations committees to develop "a standard appropriation classification schedule,' forbade reappropriation of unobligated balances of appropriations after existing time limits had expired, and instructed the appropriations committees to make studies directed toward the reduction of so-called permanent appropriations and the limitation of “free" funds available to Government agencies (from sale of property, services, etc.) without benefit of appropriation. None of these provisions has been effectively carried out to date.

In reducing the work load

1. Home rule for the District of Columbia: Self-government for the city of Washington was recommended by the La Follette-Monroney committee as one way of reducing the work load on Congress. Approximately 3,000 congressional man-hours were consumed in group meetings by Members of the House on District legislation in the first regular session of the Eightieth Congress. Identical home-rule bills (S. 1968 and H. R. 4902) were introduced in both Houses on January 12, 1948, incorporating recommendations made by a subcommittee of the House District Committee after careful study. It is hoped that these bills will be approved during the current session. Congress ought not to be burdened with local legislation at a time when great issues of peace and reconstruction are pressing upon its attention.

2. Ban on introduction of all private claims and immigration bills: I am informed by the Office of the Legislative Counsel that there would be no constitutional objection to a ban upon the introduction of all private claims and immigration bills, which now clog the Judiciary calendars, and to delegating the adjudication of such cases to administrative officers, provided Congress gives them a clear standard to go by. Such a ban would plug the loopholes in section 131 of the act.

In floor procedure

1. Installation of electric voting machines on the floor of both Houses for roll calls and quorum votes: Representative Kefauver estimates that in the past 3 years the House alone required one entire legislative month in each year just for roll calls. And that the Senate consumed 60 percent as much.14 The simple remedy for this waste of time is to record votes electrically, as 11 State legislatures now do.

2. Stagger Chamber sessions and committee meetings on alternate week days: This arrangement would go far to solve the no-quorum problem and to improve attendance at committee meetings and on the floor.

3. Limitation of debate in the Senate: This question was raised anew in the last session by the all-night filibuster to delay a vote on overriding the President's veto of labor legislation, and again by obstruction against investigating Attorney General Clark's action in the Kansas City voting frauds. Since 1917, by the process of cloture, it has been possible for a two-thirds majority on the next day following presentation of a petition signed by at least 16 Members-to limit each Senator to 1 hour of discussion. In that period of 30 years, cloture has been brought to a vote 20 times but has been adopted in only 4 instances. Of the 16 cloture petitions which failed, only 3 gained the support of a simple majoriy of the total Senate membership.

The Legislative Reorganization Act is silent on this subject, in part because the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress was precluded by its terms of reference from recommending any changes in floor procedure. Persuasive arguments are made, however, that the majority should rule and that filibusters interfere with legislative efficiency. Experience abroad and in the State legislatures indicates that debate can be limited without undesirable results.

Four resolutions were introduced in the last session to limit Senate debate and hearings on them were held by the Senate Committee on Rules. Its report (No. 87, 80th Cong., 1st sess.) recommended no substantial change in the existing rule. I venture to suggest that the present rule XXII be amended to provide for cloture by majority vote instead of two-thirds. It is believed that this would be a desirable innovation if it can be moved only after a reasonable time for free

13 Ibid., p. 29.

14 Estes Kefauver and Jack Levin, A Twentieth Century Congress (1947), ch. 5. See also Galloway, op. cit., p. 80.

debate or, on the other hand, if each Senator can be guaranteed adequate time for debate after cloture has been applied.15

CONCLUSION

As I review the impressive accomplishments of the first session of the Eightieth Congress, it seems to me that 1947 was a year of notable progress toward the modernization of our National Legislature. While some provisions of the act have not yet been carried out and others are working only partly, the leaders in both Houses and both political parties have been sincerely trying to carry out the act in good faith. The delay in the application of the new fiscal controls has been due, in large part, to the technical and procedural difficulties involved. Rome was not built in a day and it takes time to adjust old habits to new ways of doing things.

Viewed in the larger perspective of our times, the Legislative Reorganization Act is seen as part of a general effort to strengthen and adapt the machinery of American Government to the needs of the times in a dangerous age. At the local level 800 American cities had adopted the efficient manager form of government by the end of 1947-125 of them in the last 2 years. Four States have recently revised their constitutions and one-third of the States are now actively engaged in the effort to modernize their fundamental charters. Meanwhile, the Hoover Commission, operating under authority of an act favorably reported by your committee, is tackling the task of reorganizing the executive branch of the National Government, greatly distorted and distended by the Second World War. In the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 Congress has gone far to strengthen its own machinery and methods, though the task is not yet finished.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, permit me to quote from the seventh intermediate report of the Select House Committee to Investigate Executive Agencies.

"In nation after nation it has been proven that the freedom of the people and the continuance of democratic institutions depend directly on the vigor, the effectiveness, and the strong position of the national legislature. Much of the criticism which has in recent years been heaped upon the Congress of the United States has been irresponsible and undeserved. But there has been also well-considered and constructive criticism which merits attention. No effort should be spared to make congressional organization, procedure, and functioning as nearly perfect as possible.'

Senate:

" 16

TABLE 1.-Select committees created by 80th Congress, first session

1. To investigate national defense program.
2. To study problems of American small business__
3. On reconstruction of Senate roof and skylights_

Members

10

12

5

27

House:

1. To study problems of small business_

2. On supplies of newsprint, etc.

3. On foreign aid....

19

4. To investigate transactions on commodity exchanges. 5. On reconstruction of House roof and skylights...

47

7

15 See Franklin L. Burdette, The Limits of Congressional Debate, Human Events, July 30, 1947. Also Galloway, op. cit., pp. 80-81.

16 Seventh Intermediate Report of the Select Committee to Investigate Executive Agencies, House of Representatives, (78th Cong., 2d sess., H. Rept. 1912, Nov. 20, 1944, p. 1).

1 Includes standing subcommittees as distinguished from special subcommittees appointed to consider single bills. 1947 data are as of Aug. 15, 1947.

TABLE 3.-Special investigations authorized by the Senate, 80th Cong., 1st sess.

TABLE 4.-Special investigations authorized by the House, 80th Congress, first

TABLE 5.-Employees of Senate committees July 1, 1947 to December 31, 1947

1 Mostly investigators employed by subcommittees pursuant to special investigations.

TABLE 6.-Employees of House Committees, July 1, 1947, to Dec. 31, 1947

1 Mostly investigators and consultants employed pursuant to special investigations.

EXHIBIT A. JURISDICTIONAL QUESTIONS IN THE SENATE DURING FIRST SESSION OF EIGHTIETH CONGRESS

1. Senate Resolution 40, providing for the extension of the special committee to investigate petroleum resources. Was referred to Committee on Public Lands. Senator Moore thought it should have been referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. (Congressional Record, January 10, 1947, p. 231.)

2. S. 49 and 70, amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to exempt employers from liability for portal-to-portal wages, etc. Judiciary versus Labor and Public Welfare. (Congressional Record, January 10, 1947, pp. 231-3, 241-2; January 13, 1947, pp. 279-80.) Chair ruled in favor of Judiciary Committee.

3. Senate Joint Resolution 34, prohibiting War Assets Administration from disposing of certain pipe lines. Armed Services versus Interstate and Foreign Commerce. (Congressional Record, January 15, 1947, p. 381.) Referred to Armed Services.

4. S. 758, creating a single Department of National Defense. Armed Services versus Expenditures in Executive Departments. (Congressional Record, January 27, 1947, p. 627; February 26, 1947, pp. 1465-6; March 3, 1947, pp. 1658–66.) Finally referred to Armed Services by vote of Senate.

5. S. 54 and 357, relating to the furnishing of automobiles to disabled veterans. Finance versus Labor and Public Welfare. Chair ruled in favor of Labor and Public Welfare. (Congressional Record, January 31, 1947, p. 766.)

6. Senate Joint Resolution 61, proposing an amendment to the Constitution in re a balanced Federal peacetime budget. Referred first to Appropriations